described to be particularly aggressive when handled. This species is not able to "spit" its venom. Diet Forest cobras will feed on a wide variety of prey, including amphibians, fish, other snakes, monitor lizards and other lizards, bird eggs, rodents, and other small mammals. It has been recorded as taking mudskippers, and in west Africa, one specimen had eaten a Gifford's giant shrew, an insectivore with a smell so noxious, most other snakes would not touch it. Reproduction This is an oviparous species. In the summer, females will lay between 11 and 26 smooth white eggs, each roughly . The eggs stick together in a bunch. The eggs are laid in hollow trees, termite mounds, holes in the ground or females will make their own nests. Before mating, a pair of will "dance", raising their heads a foot or more off the ground and moving to and fro. This may continue for an hour before mating takes place, when the male presses his cloaca (the chamber into which the reproductive, urinary, and intestinal canals empty) against that of the female. Female forest cobras may stand guard and are irritable and aggressive during the breeding period. A female is liable to attack without provocation, with potentially fatal consequences for passersby if her nest is near a footpath. Hatchlings are born completely independent and are usually in length, although some sources claim that hatchlings may measure up to Incubation period is anywhere from 55 to 70 days (or over 80 days in one captive study) at temperatures of 27–30 °C (81–86 °F). These snakes are known to have a long lifespan. One captive specimen lived for 28 years, which was the record for the longest lived venomous snake in captivity, but another specimen held at the Melbourne Zoo in Australia turned 35 on 1 September 2014. References External links Immediate First Aid for bites by Forest cobra (Naja melanoleuca) Clinical Toxinology Resource Forest cobra (N. melanoleuca) Reptiles described in 1857 Naja Snakes of Africa Venomous snakes